Port Authority OKs preliminary $3.5B budget

Dec. 7, 2012

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Port Authority of New York and New Jersey commissioners approved a $3.5 billion preliminary 2013 operating budget, which proposes 70 more customer representatives at airports as part of a $2.5 million increase for service improvements.

Of that $3.5 billion total, $2.57 billion is the operating budget and the remainder is for debt repayment.

However, officials said the final costs of damage and overtime from superstorm Sandy are still being calculated. Those costs will likely come out of the agency’s capital budget to be acted on early next year, said Scott Rechler, authority board vice chairman.

Projects that are under way and those dealing with state of good repair of the authority’s transportation network will not be affected, he said.

“Everything else will be re-evaluated or under review,” Rechler said.

That would be after insurance and FEMA payments are applied, said Bill Baroni, deputy executive director.

While the authority head count will remain at 6,777 workers, those added 70 customer service representatives will come from a private company with which the authority is contracting to provide service at its four major airports.

Officials are forecasting modest revenue increases in 2013, which Chief Financial Officer Michael Fabiano said is due to improvements and growth in the regional economy.

The authority’s airports are predicted to move 3 million more passengers this coming year, he said. Of the three major airports, Newark Liberty had the most flights and highest number of passengers last year, said Susan Baer, director of aviation.

The PATH rail system also is predicted to haul 3.9 million more people, which Fabiano said is attributed to “the modest growth of jobs in Manhattan.”

Officials expect 100,000 more shipping containers to move through the ports this year, Fabiano said.

This would be the third year staffing hasn’t increased and the fifth year that the budget has remained relatively stable.

Gross operating revenues are anticipated to increase by $93 million in 2013, because of high toll and fare revenues and fixed rentals, mostly at the authority’s aviation facilities, budget documents said.

Authority officials expect the agency to earn a total of $4.224 billion in 2013, an increase from $4.131 billion this year.

Richard Hughes, co-founder of the Twin Towers Alliance, questioned the authority’s rosy fiscal outlook. He noted that the authority is carrying enormous debt, much of it from the $14.7 billion World Trade Center site redevelopment. He questioned where the money will come from for major projects, such as raising the Bayonne Bridge.